33 - Frames away getting painted

 I finally finished preparing the frame and got it rubbed down ready for painting. I left it over with a friend and hopefully he'll get it done in the next week or two. I'm looking forward to starting to put her together again. It's been spread out all over the floor for too long.


 I have a bit of a problem with the petrol tank. I put tank sealer in it 20 odd years ago and now its all starting to crack and come away from the fibreglass. Of course there's very little access down inside the filler cap so there's no way to remove it all before sealing it again with fresh stuff. The people who make the tank sealers say not to put any dissolving solution into it as it will only react with the resin in the glass and make it a whole lot worse, and I don't think swishing nuts and bolts around inside will get it out either.

  So I contacted a guy who works in a boat yard where they make fibreglass hulls. The plan was that if I cut a couple of holes in the bottom of the tank it would let me in enough to poke about and get the old sealer out. Then they could patch the holes up again for me before resealing it, but he's not overly keen on the idea. 

 So I thought a bit more about it, and the idea going round in my head at the minute is why not just cut the entire bottom out of the tank. Then I could fabricate a tiny aluminium tank to fit inside the fibreglass unit and finally reattach the bottom piece of original fibreglass. It would look the same from the outside but all aluminium inside. It doesn't need to hold much, just enough to start it and take it for a wee sail. I might be biting off too much here but i'm thinking about it.

32 - Work in Progress

 I haven't been posting for a week or two but I still managed to get some work done. 
 I ordered a silencer box from Spain but as I suspected it did not fit all that well. The problem is the bracket, it's holding the box in a bad position so that it's hitting against the frame at the tail pipe. I think the best thing I could do is cut it off and make a new one that holds everything in the right position.  Note how far off it is in the bottom picture, plus the silencer also needs to move in towards the engine to make a bit of clearance against the frame.

  Stevie, a workmate, came over one day to ask how I was getting on with the exhaust pipe and offered to let me try his set of 'blow out' plates. I did try them but with not a lot of success. The problem was getting enough pressure inside the pipe to blow the dent out. At around 30 psi the air would escape because I just could not get the plates to clamp onto the pipe tight enough. So unfortunately I had to go back to my idea of building them up with brazing rod.

 In our conversation Stevie mentioned he was getting some bits zinc plated for a 250 Maico he's restoring, and did I need anything done? Well I hadn't thought about it, but I looked out some parts that evening and was really pleased at the result, especially the spring. Thanks Stevie.

 Included in that little batch was six original bolts from the wheel, they look good and I'm in the notion of sourcing a few more for the more prominent locations around the bike. Also I got a couple of new Akront decals for the rim too.

 So I'm almost finished with the frame, I had to make a little cable ring for the speedo and petty much all that's left to do now is it rub it down and get it ready for Clifford to paint. Hopefully I'll get it to him within the next fortnight.